The spring early picks and guesses for the 2019-2020 College Football Playoff & bowl projections.
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Too early? It’s never, ever, ever too early to get rolling with the bowl projections and College Football Playoff matchups.
The bowl world and the matchups will change up in a big way next season, but for now, outside of a few slight changes in tie-ins, almost everything is the same except for the College Football Playoff matchups.
– Future College Football Playoff Sites & Dates
This year, the College Football Playoff National Championship is in New Orleans on January 13th. The two semifinals will be on December 28th, with one the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona, and the other the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta.
In the New Year’s Six games – no matter what – the Rose Bowl will be a Big Ten team vs. a Pac-12 team, the Sugar Bowl will be a Big 12 vs. SEC matchup.
An ACC team will go to the Orange Bowl to face either Notre Dame, or the highest-ranked available SEC or Big Ten team not in the Sugar or Rose, respectively, or the CFP.
Got all of that?
It all means the top champion from the Group of Five programs will play in the Cotton Bowl – if it’s not in the College Football Playoff – vs. the top-ranked at-large team.
There are a few admitted problems to deal with when doing bowl projections this early.
There aren’t enough bowl games. As always for this time of year, if you think your team should be in the bowl mix, and currently isn’t here, don’t sweat it. These things always work out.
When all is said and done, Arizona, BYU, Cal, Duke, Eastern Michigan, Illinois, Kansas State, Liberty, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Southern Miss, Tulane, UNLV, Wake Forest, Washington State, Western Michigan, and Wyoming will be in the mix for bowl games and/or should be in. But …
Some Power Five leagues don’t have enough bowl tie-ins. The Pac-12 only has seven bowl slots and should have anywhere between eight to ten eligible teams. The same goes for the ACC, with at least three teams likely to have a hard time finding a bowl home. You can check out all the 2019-2020 College Football conference bowl tie-ins here.
And here we go …
2019-2020 Projected Bowl Matchups
The schedule and dates to come. This is the order the bowls were in last season.
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Conference USA vs. Sun Belt (champion)
Bowl Projection: UAB vs. Appalachian State
AutoNation Cure Bowl
Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL
American Athletic vs. Sun Belt
Bowl Projection: USF vs. Arkansas State
Las Vegas Bowl
Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, NV
Mountain West vs. Pac-12
Bowl Projection: San Diego State vs. UCLA
Gildan New Mexico Bowl
Branch Field at Dreamstyle Stadium, Albuquerque, NM
Conference USA vs. Mountain West
Bowl Projection: Florida Atlantic vs. Fresno State
Raycom Media Camellia Bowl
Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, AL
MAC vs. Sun Belt
Bowl Projection: Miami University vs. Louisiana
Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl
Howard Schnellenberger Field at FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, FL
American Athletic vs. MAC
Bowl Projection: Memphis vs. Ohio
DXL Frisco Bowl
Toyota Stadium, Frisco, TX
American Athletic vs. at-large
Secondary: MAC, and if not, Conference USA
Bowl Projection: SMU vs. Army
Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl
Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL
American Athletic vs. Conference USA
Secondary: ACC
Bowl Projection: Houston vs. FIU
Bahamas Bowl
Thomas Robinson National Stadium, Nassau, Bahamas
MAC vs. Conference USA
Bowl Projection: Buffalo vs. Louisiana Tech
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Lyle Smith Field at Albertsons Stadium, Boise, ID
MAC vs. Mountain West
Bowl Projection: Northern Illinois vs. Colorado State
Jared Birmingham Bowl
Legion Field, Birmingham, AL
American Athletic vs. SEC
Secondary: ACC
Bowl Projection: Cincinnati vs. Ole Miss
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, TX
Big Ten vs. Mountain West
Bowl Projection: Northwestern vs. Air Force
Dollar General Bowl
Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, AL
MAC vs. Sun Belt
Bowl Projection: Toledo vs. Georgia Southern
– 2019-2020 College Football Conference Bowl Tie-Ins
Hawai’i Bowl
Hawaiian Tel Federal Credit Union Field at Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI
BYU vs. American Athletic or Mountain West
Bowl Projection: Temple vs. Utah State
SERVPRO First Responders Bowl
Cotton Bowl Stadium, Dallas, TX
Big 12 vs. Conference USA
Secondary: Big Ten
Bowl Projection: Texas Tech vs. Marshall
Quick Lane Bowl
Ford Field, Detroit, MI
ACC vs. Big Ten
Secondary: MAC
Bowl Projection: Boston College vs. Maryland
Cheez-It Bowl
Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ
Big 12 vs. Pac-12
Secondary: Mountain West
Bowl Projection: West Virginia vs. Utah
Walk-On’s Independence Bowl
Independence Stadium, Shreveport, LA
ACC vs. SEC
Secondary: American Athletic, Conference USA
Bowl Projection: Syracuse vs. South Carolina
New Era Pinstripe Bowl
Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
ACC vs. Big Ten
Bowl Projection: NC State vs. Nebraska
Redbox Bowl
Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA
Big Ten vs. Pac-12
Bowl Projection: Minnesota vs. Stanford
Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX
Big 12 vs. SEC
Bowl Projection: Baylor vs. Arkansas
Military Bowl Presented By Northrup Grumman
Navy-Marine Corps. Stadium, Annapolis, MD
ACC vs. American Athletic
Bowl Projection: Georgia Tech vs. UCF
Camping World Bowl
Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL
ACC vs. Big 12
Bowl Projection: Notre Dame* vs. Oklahoma State
*Notre Dame can take an ACC spot if it’s within one game of a team slotted for a bowl
Valero Alamo Bowl
Alamodome, San Antonio, TX
Big 12 vs. Pac-12
Bowl Projection: Texas vs. Washington
San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl
SDCCU Stadium, San Diego, CA
Big Ten vs. Pac-12
Bowl Projection: Penn State vs. USC
Belk Bowl
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
ACC vs. SEC
Bowl Projection: Virginia Tech vs. Kentucky
Hyundai Sun Bowl
Sun Bowl Stadium, El Paso, TX
ACC vs. Pac-12
Bowl Projection: Florida State vs. Arizona State
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl
Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN
SEC vs. (likely) ACC, or Big Ten
Bowl Projection: Missouri vs. Virginia
NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl
Arizona Stadium, Tucson, AZ
Sun Belt vs. Mountain West
Bowl Projection: Troy vs. Nevada
TaxSlayer Bowl
EverBank Field, Jacksonville, FL
SEC vs. (likely) Big Ten, or ACC
Bowl Projection: Mississippi State vs. Iowa
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Liberty Bowl, Memphis, TN
Big 12 vs. SEC
Secondary: American Athletic
Bowl Projection: Iowa State vs. Tennessee
Outback Bowl
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
Big Ten vs. SEC
Bowl Projection: Michigan State vs. Auburn
Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl
Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL
SEC vs. Big Ten or ACC
Bowl Projection: Florida vs. Wisconsin
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